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I used to listen to the Cuban music on Radio Havana on my parents short-wave radio in the early 1950's - my introduction to Latin Jazz. My current collection on CD is modest, and mostly classic big band. If you want an introduction to classic Latin and Afro-Cuban Jazz, get the Verve release "More Than Mambo," a two disk compilation of some of the greats in the field. If you like Big-Band Jazz, here's a list of some classic albums: Paquito d'Rivera - Portraits of Cuba Dizzy Gillespie y Machito - Afro-Cuban Stan Kenton's "Cuban Fire" is true classic, but you really have to
like big-band (really an orchestra) to get into this one. Other albums I lkie include: Tito Puente - Oye Como Va: The Dance Collection Introducing - Ruben Gonzalez (He played piano on the Buena Vista Social
Club album, and recorded this, his debut solo album, immediately
afterwards. He 75 years old at the time - 1996. This is a
smaller, true latin band unlike the other American big bands in
this list. One of my favorites.) Sam Mangwana - Galo Negro (Described in the notes as "Congolese Rumba and other fusions of African, Latin, Brazilian and Carribean music" is another variant on latin music The Putamayo Sampler "Music from the Coffee Lands" is a great collection of music from Peru, Colombia, Uganda, Brazil, Jamaica, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Mexico, Hawaii, Costa Rica and the Congo. I know that there is a lot of new Latin jazz out there, but I haven't explored new stuff lately. Have fun Listening. Dave VH
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